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TIL the Disney animated Jungle Book character, King Louie, is an Orangutan but in the live action version they changed him to a Gigantopithecus. Although extinct they once lived in forest throughout India, which avoids the movie perpetuating a geographic fallacy.

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4k1ob TIL Alec Guinness negotiated an upfront salary of $300,000 and 2.25% of the backend grosses to appear as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars (1977). Overall, the deal earned him an estimated $95 million, for roughly 20 minutes of screen time, by the time of his death in 2000 at 86.
wdg8 TIL the GPS is owned by the United States and was originally developed for military usage but made freely-available in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan after Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down
xVdyk TIL the "Mona" in Mona Lisa is a misspelled title. It was originally "Monna", which is a polite title in Italian, kind of like Ma'am. Meanwhile, "Mona" is vulgar, meaning "idiot" or even "cunt"
awbZo TIL the words ‘sadism’ and ‘sadist’ are derived from the name of Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (1740-1814). Sade is best known for his erotic works, but he was also infamous for his sexual crimes and abuse. Sade was incarcerated for about 32 years of his life.
5YEkR TIL the FAA manager who ordered all U.S. flights to be grounded on 9/11 was working his first day on the job that day.